A new best friend for anglers

Gogal, of Warrington, founded Ultimate Fishing Maps back in the 1990s, and his maps were must-haves for anglers in search of new places to ply their pastime.

He stopped producing those maps in the mid-1990s after his first wife was diagnosed with cancer and eventually died, but he's brought the idea back in an even bigger way.

"Fast-forward to two years ago," Gogal said during a phone interview. "I'm remarried, and my new wife is like, 'You really had a good thing going with those maps. You ought to try to get back into that.' I thought, 'Cool.'"

Gogal is producing a fishing map for the entire state of Pennsylvania that fits on a microSD memory card and is compatible with Garmin GPS units. He also has relaunched his printed maps to serve as companion pieces.

"We're giving anglers a tool to really travel a lot," Gogal said after the microSD card addition to Garmin units was unveiled at both the 2011 Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show in Harrisburg and again at the Fly Fishing Show in Valley Forge last month.

"The challenge in making a good map," he said, "is that if you make it large enough to be marketable, you have to skimp on the detail, and if you're too super-detailed for one area, not enough people will buy it. With the GPS, you can go right down to street level."

Like the typical GPS systems people use in cars, the Ultimate Fishing software will call up the nearest locations to where you are when you activate it. One of the coolest things about it, however, is that it's not just showing you the rivers, streams and lakes, but where to park to access them.

That's a tremendous tool in its own right, but Gogal and Burdack weren't satisfied with just getting you to a fishing point.

"The real power of our products is when you go to the tag that says 'press for more,'" Gogal said. "You don't just get distance and driving time. Every point contains a list of all species in that location, season and creel limits, all of the fishing regulations that apply to that location and all of the boating regulations and motor restrictions that are applicable."

Gogal demonstrated by calling up Big Bass Lake, and the software called up details noting the 60-horsepower motor limit, all the seasons, size and creel limits and reflected early trout season as well as the big bass program.

In addition, if you have a bigger motor on your boat, there's a feature that allows you call up lakes that are compatible, regulation-wise, with your motor size.

"If I hit 'electric motor,' it will list where I can launch my boat from nearest to farthest," he said. "When you're traveling around the state, it will always be location-sensitive as to what's closest to you. It's a great explorer's tool if you want to try a new place," Gogal said.

Gogal and Burdack also contacted professional fishing guides throughout the state for their input. As a result, you can search specific rivers and find all the public boat launches by name of the access point, and summaries of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission boat ramps and whether or not they are paved, how much trailer parking is available and if there is a dock or fishing pier.

Because the program allows anglers to travel to different waterways all over the state, the software also incorporates invasive species alerts to keep anglers and boaters mindful of their responsibilities to help limit the spread of aquatic hitchhikers.

The program also includes a toll-free environmental protection hotline phone number that anglers can report problems on streams, rivers and lakes.

"My goal was to take all the time you spend researching a new fishing spot and instead, let you spend time fishing it," Gogal said.

Part of the proceeds from the sale of the software is being donated to the Conservation Acquisition Partnership fund of the PFBC that helps purchase water access for fishing and boating.

The software is designed for the type of Garmin GPS units used in vehicles and is not recommended for handheld models because of the street-level detail.

The Ultimate Fishing Maps GPS Fishing Guide Pennsylvania sells for $79.95 and comes with all the current 2011 PFBC regulations and a free update for 2012. Gogal Publishing is looking at a price of $19.95 per year after that to keep the product totally up to date.

His two-sided maps come in three geographical divisions for Eastern, Central and Western Pennsylvania.

The products are available for purchase at http://www.ultimatefishingmaps.com. The company also is working on getting the product into local bait and tackle shops, and the company is contemplating expanding its product line to include other states.